My mom remembers when food started tasting different: beef went from grass-fed to corn-fed, apples lost their flavor, everything became waxier and bigger and more uniform. Not surprisingly, I never enjoyed produce like pears or grapes in the States. Coming here was a revelation. It took me awhile to get used to dirt-covered, blemished produce, but now I love finding slugs in my cauliflower. It means my food is wholesome, the flavor uncorrupted; everything's going to taste the way it's supposed to. Waiting months for my favorites to come back in season makes me appreciate them that much more!

Anyway, I've gotten a few questions asking where I buy the purple potatoes. They're called vitelotte and I get them at Joël Thiébault's market stand. He's at Rue Gros on Thursdays from 7-2 and Avenue President Wilson on Saturdays. Real French people usually only eat them once a year or so, but we have them once a week because they're closer to ancient tubers, domesticated by the Incas on an Andean altiplano. The first cultivar was blue, and Incas grew a whole rainbow from pink to yellow and orange in all shapes and sizes. Faced with the challenge of farming a vertical surface, they bred different strains so plants grown next to each other wouldn't have to compete the way they do in a monoculture. Different, complementary neighbors thrive in different planes of sunshine, soak up water from different root levels, and overall capture more resources than would be possible under same-species competition. The resulting yields were impressive and resistant to disease or weather changes- an increasingly rare feat in our polyculture-deprived world.

I think I'm a negative person, because when I first moved to Paris, what I noticed wasn't the way cream-colored buildings caught the light or distinctive loggias dotting tree-lined boulevards. It was the thick layer of limescale on everything. Well-meaning friends gave advice, but their homes aggravated my Howard Hughes-level mysophobia- the 'fresh' scent of Ariel smelled like endocrine disruptors to me. For a zero-waste, industrial chemical-free apartment, I use nothing but these biodegradable cleaners, stored in Aesop bottles made of pharmaceutical grade amber glass. Note: This list is Paris-specific. If I lived in Indonesia, I'd probably use soap nuts for everything!

Zero waste cleaners and natural, homemade disinfectants

White vinegar

Spray directly on any surface and wipe off. To disinfect and remove hard water stains, let stand 10 minutes, then scrub with soap and water. Add 50 cl to laundry as fabric softener. For marble or wood floors, mix one part distilled water and one part vinegar; mop with vegetable sponge. Suitable as toilet cleaner, fruit and vegetable wash, stainless steel, jewelry, electronics and glass cleaner; rinse aid, and deodorizer. Vinegar is acidic- never mix with a base like castile soap.

According to peer-reviewed studies, vinegar removes 99% of bacteria and viruses, except the poliovirus- it eliminates 90% of the population. Soap and water will take care of the rest. Updated to add: If you can only find vinegar in plastic, I don't recommend glass because even though it's fully recyclable, glass transportation has a hefty carbon footprint since the bottles are heavier than plastic. Try making scrap vinegar at home instead. It's easy, I personally just don't do it that often because A) I get vinegar at En Vrac and B) I eat all my apple cores, even the stems. I like lignin.

Aleppo Soap

Rub directly on stains to clean both porous and non-porous surfaces. Apply to damp brush to wash dishes. Grate soap for use as laundry detergent, or dissolve 70g grated soap in 2L boiling distilled water, and use for washing dishes, laundry, hand/body wash or shampoo. Can be used to clean upholstery or hand-wash dry cleaning. Tip: Pour dissolved soap mixture into a silicone ice cube tray and place in refrigerator for zero-waste, non-toxic laundry tabs.

Distilled water

Place a glass or stoneware bowl in a pot of water (make sure it floats). Invert the lid and bring to boil. When condensation fills the bowl (place ice on the lid for faster results), cool and store. Add lavender or rose petals to the pot for linen water, facial toner, flavorings, or to freshen and dehumidify air. Combine with equal parts vodka in a spray bottle to freshen clothes, bedding and upholstery- zero waste Febreze.

Baking soda

Sprinkle on sofa, mattresses, carpets, rugs or upholstered items and vacuum after 30 minutes to deep clean. Pour in drains and chase with white vinegar. Use to scrub ovens, pans, litter boxes, tubs, and the sink. To kill mold without bleach, scrub surface mold with baking soda, then spray vinegar on area and leave one hour. To remove tarnish from silver, soak in baking soda with boiling water. To clean drains, use snake and plunger, then follow with baking soda, vinegar, and boiling water. Baking soda is a finite (though practically inexhaustable) resource that is mined from trona ore. It is not usually recycled and vast industrial quantities can persist in ecosystems, posing a risk to several species. However, the benefits far outweight the risks, which are mitigated by proper industrial disposal.

Citrus slices/peels

Leave in gutters or on balcony to ward off mosquitoes; add to garbage can or garbage disposal to deodorize. Soak in vinegar for wood / all-purpose cleaner. Simmer on stove to dehumidify and scent the air. Use lemon slices to clean stains off butcher block countertops and disinfect cutting boards.

Plastic-Free Cleaning Tools

Flour sack towels

Despite the energy input required for cotton, I prefer these over microfiber for biodegradability and versatility. I use towels my mom and grandmother used (with extras from eBay), and they make great napkins and food wrappers. Instead of a wooden, plastic-free toilet brush, a specially designated flour sack towel works fine.

Compostable brush

We use this bamboo brush for scrubbing. After a year, the handle fell off and disappeared into compost, but the head is perfectly usable and disinfected in boiling vinegar every week. Redecker brushes are available throughout Paris.

Instead of spraying Lysol, open a window or set trash cans and litter boxes in the sun to freshen them. Even if your vacuum cleaner isn't bagless, you can compost the contents, rinse the bag, and re-use it. Try using a garment brush or vegetable sponge as a zero-waste lint roller (grow your own- they last indefinitely with proper care), and a galvanized bucket instead of a breakable plastic one. There's a learning curve with natural cleaning products, but now the first thing people say when they walk in is how clean and nice-smelling everything is. Everyone asks the name of our cleaning lady!

SHOP THIS POST

Causses is an epicerie specializing in gluten, additive, and preservative-free food. The shop focuses on small, independent producers and bulk, so I dragged my husband to our old neighborhood to check it out. It's been awhile since I left my quartier, and I suddenly realized how spoiled we are living in the 7ème. The rest of Paris seems so dirty by comparison.

Causses carries all local food, which doesn't necessarily mean it's from France. There was maybe one basket of tomatoes grown here and the rest of the produce came from Spain or Sicily- it's less energy intensive that way. When I asked to put feta in my own container, they charged me rather than subtracting the tare written on the bottom- n'importe quoi- but the bulk section has a nice array of gluten-free dry goods, and bulk olive oil or fresh orange juice is available. They compost everything, and what little we bought was well-priced and delicious. We loosely followed this bulk shopping tour of Montmartre, stopping at Cité du Midi and Le Comptoir Colonial after. We wanted to try L'Epicerie de Terroir, but my husband, who was raised in Paris, saw the mini mustard gift sets outside, said, "Too touristy," and refused to go in.

I know how this sounds, but Montmartre is just too real for me now. There was a homeless man with a dog suckling little puppies by the Métro that brought me to tears in the street. I gave him money and he bought a pack of cigarettes and a beer can, which he threw at some passersby after. Life in the 7ème is so sheltered, I'm out of touch with the realities of harsh city life. I felt out of place, especially around Boulevard de Clichy- probably because I don't have dreadlocks or own anything tie-dyed.